Awake Zion explores the connections between Rasta, Reggae and Judaism, through one woman's beat-laden adventure into the meaning of identity. All the way back to the alleged sultry affair between the Jewish King Solomon and the African Queen of Sheba, Jewish influence is evident in the spiritual history of Ethiopia - turning up subtly in Rastafarian lifestyle and then, inevitably, in reggae. Unravelling the story of this unlikely kinship, Awake Zion unites Jewish and Jamaican musicians, scholars, and historians in a celebration roots and culture - traveling from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where Caribbean and Jewish cultures share a history of adversity - to Jamaica, the birthplace of reggae - and ultimately to Israel, where a sizzling reggae scene thrives today. Awake Zion examines the preconceptions of what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be Rasta, what it means to be white or black - and, most importantly, the universal search for what it means to be "home".
"Finding Joseph I" is a feature documentary chronicling the eccentric life and struggles of punk rock reggae singer, Paul "HR" Hudson, a.k.a. Joseph I, the legendary lead singer from Bad Brains.
Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.
Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Magazine, The Go-Go's, Toyah Willcox, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Police. These were many of the most popular groups on the New Wave scene; in keeping with the spirit of the scene, the film also features several less famous acts, and one completely obscure group, Invisible Sex, in what appears to be their only public performance.
After an unsuccessful attempt at establishing himself in the early 1970s music scene, Jamaican-born reggae legend Stranger Cole opens a record store, the first Caribbean business in Toronto's Kensington Market.
Documentary about reggae in Jamaica and its history. Filmed in 1979.
Straight out of This is England! Or was it the other other way round? Never mind, now a classic, World of Skinhead seeks out the roots of skinhead culture - from Detroit to Bergen, from Glasgow to Berlin, honouring its true spirit.
A powerful portrait of the leaders of the reggae music Movement, and how Reggae has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film showcases performances by the best Reggae and Dance Hall artists ever assembled. From their native ghetto to international fame, "Made in Jamaica" is the story of the artists who represent the Jamaican Dream.
The Wailers, featuring the legendary Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, became the most influential band in the history of Reggae music. "Catch a Fire," their first Island album, released in 1973, introduced them to an international rock audience. The principal figures in the creation of the album tell the story of how this record was designed to "cross-over." The program features a unique interview and performance with Bunny Wailer, rare archive interviews with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and contributions in words and music from many of those who performed, Rare home movies of the Wailers in Jamaica, unseen footage lots more.
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.
OUTREMONT AND THE HASIDIM reveals the challenges of accommodating the “Hasidim” – or ultra-Orthodox Jews – in the affluent Montréal borough of Outremont.Some 7,000 Hasidim live in or near this choice neighbourhood of Québec’s Francophone elite. After settling there more than 70 years ago, the Hasidim are a rapidly growing minority group which today represents about 23% of Outremont’s population.Thanks to unprecedented access to this self-isolated community, the film lifts the veil on its practices, traditions, music and life as they had never before been seen on Canadian television, without ignoring the community’s expectations, fears. and hopes.
Documentary on the London punk-rock scene, circa '78
'Roots Rock Reggae' depicts an unforgettable moment in Jamaica's history when music defined the island's struggles and immortalized its heroes. Director Jeremy Marre films Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry record in his legendary Black Ark studio with The Upsetters. Jimmy Cliff rehearses with Sly and Robbie, while Inner Circle's historic live gig is recorded on the violent Kingston streets. The legendary Abyssinians harmonize their haunting Rastafarian songs; Joe Higgs (formerly Bob Marley's teacher) plays and talks; majestic toaster U Roy raps alongside The Mighty Diamonds, and Third World record in a Kingston studio. There is also early archive footage of Toots and the Maytals, and Haile Selessie's royal visit to Jamaica while police and thieves battle it out on the streets, and the ghettos erupt in violence. 1977: An extraordinary year for Reggae music.
Documentary about reggae music and culture in London in 1977. Filmed in Super 8 camera by Don Letts. With participation of Richard Branson, Neneh Cherry, Paul Cook, Sly Dunbar, Paul Weller, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Siouxsie Sioux, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and others. Released in 2017.
A documentary covering the life and death of Jamaican reggae musician and cultural icon Peter Tosh. Drawn both from Tosh's "Red X" series of autobiographical tapes that he was recording at the time of his murder and from interviews with other figures in his life.
In the spring of 1939, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus embarked on a risky and unlikely mission. Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, they rescued 50 Jewish children from Vienna and brought them to the United States.
This feature length documentary charts the story of the great Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee. A legend himself, there’s not a lot of pioneers of roots and reggae that he didn’t work with, becoming the go-to producer for that dub sound coming out of Jamaica in the sixties and seventies, further cementing his legacy when he started licensing his productions straight to London labels. Diggory Kenrick’s doco calls on not only Lee himself to tell the story, but features the likes of U Roy, Dennis Alcapone, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sly and Robbie, Johnny Clarke and Johnny Holt among others.
A 90-year-old Jewish woman reflects on her life experiences as she prepares to try bacon for the first time.
Music lovers fascinated by the ideas, experiences, and emotions that serve as the foundation of Jamaican reggae are invited to explore the history of the legendary Soul Syndicate - a collection of talented musicians who provided backup instrumentation for such acclaimed artists as Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Mayals, Burning Spear, and Bob Marley and the Wailers among others.